Thoughts about UBOAT

[Toxiclad]

Good evening Captains,

i'm sitting here, looking at UBOAT and asked myself if this is going to be the next big subsim or will it end as an arcade submarine simulator after early access.

I'm just curious, whats your opinion on the game at it's current state and what are the UP and DOWN sides for you ? What are your wishes for the future of the game ?

Good Hunting
Toxic:Kaleun_Salute:

[JerseySeven]

Downside for me is the daily patches that we've seen in the last few days. It breaks some good mods, like the TDC mod. I would prefer that the devs limit these minor updates to maybe one a week.

[Toxiclad]

That's true, same for the Uboat Extended Mod. Personally I like the point of interacting with the crew, although it's not that far integratet yet.

[GoldenRivet]

Likes:

Combining story elements with a dynamic and static campaign layer - the ability to board merchants, search cargo holds, capture downed pilots or surviving crew and undertake side missions adds a new and interesting layer to an old classic genre

customizable officers and crew - You can make them and name them in a large number of ways which makes the experience your own

complexity of repair and damage control - you get some real tense Das Boot style moments now, instead of watching a damage control schematic 2D page slowly repair itself, now you see men scrambling for parts, being sprayed with water while trying to fix a leak and stop the flooding

Mod support and ease of modification - this game has an insane amount of mod support, and despite constant updates and patches, most of the higher end mods are updated for compatability within days if not hours of the new version update

Dislikes:

steeper learning curve than most, just because you are acustomed to SH3, SH4, SH5 and others the gameplay style is very different and will take some getting used to and i think this causes a lot of folks to abandon early on what could be one of their favorite subsims if they gave it a few weeks of tinkering otherwise

Limited voice acting - i suspect this will change over time, but for now, various things we might expect would be modeled speech wise arent

too many friendly uboats - especially early in the war, im running across 10 and 12 other boats in October 39 when there probably werent even that many ordered to sea by then

Not enough friendly other stuff - currently there is only one french port, and it is empty of any friendly activity, merchants, trawlers, mine sweepers, tankers, destroyers etc... nowhere to be seen.

Conclusions:

Just as my review (outdated a bit now) says - the game has gobs of support from the dev team and the modding community, and on vanilla patching and release versions alone, the game isnt what it was 12 months ago let alone 6. It has vastly improved over the last couple of years worth of work done to it. so there is a TON o potential, both realized and untapped

The players of our genre are fortunate that these titles exist at all, we are a unique corner of the gaming world, and with first person shooters and so many other games capturing the market the way they do, we are easily becoming spoiled with our current variety of subsims. Uboat - if the player can get through learning the user interface, offers unique fun and challenges in ways that havnt been considered before. I myself am a traditional hard core player... If realism is what you seek, put the game in FPP mode only and enjoy, because the only thing you wont be doing is filling out Kriegsmarine requisition request forms and typing after action reports to Bdu while in port - i just wish you good luck in even surviving your first five missions that way.

[Toxiclad]

Yes, it lacks of historical accuracy. Personally I wish for more crew member background stories and maybe some mini games like card games or something like that to improve the relationship with your crew members on a long cruise as an example. I know these points maybe are not important right now, but I'd like to see this stuff in the future. But although there is a lot of work ahead for the devs I hope that it will be successful, because like you said there aren't a lot of subsims on the market.

Add: I just found out the recruits kinda have a back story, I just don't know if this affects their skills

[Shibbyland]

I'm liking UBoat quite a lot. It does so many things I wished SH5 would but then in other areas I find myself wanting to go back to SH5 Wolves of Steel.

Like the above post said. The ability to inspect neutral shipping and the mission variety is really cool. I like the interaction with the crew and managing provisioning of the boat. I like that there's more to do on patrols than head to a point, submerge, check hydro then surface and repeat.

In saying that, I find Uboat a bit too easy and somehow less immersive than SH5 Wolves of Steel.

In WoS, I really felt like I was on the Uboat. The world felt much more alive with so many different types of vessels, and despite it being a much older game, I prefer the graphics and sounds of SH5 (although that could be nostalgia). I don't know what it is that WoS has that makes it more immersive for me. Maybe it's just the effort it takes to locate, stalk and target a convoy. The enigma part of WoS is awesome too.

However, as good as WoS is, it relies on ubisoft and ubisoft's stuff is so unreliable. Uboat is just so much more straightforward to run and when I play it I don't constantly worry about getting too close to an AI spawn point and breaking my game or worrying about the campaign not progressing. I miss WoS a lot but I'm resisting the urge to reinstall it and am embracing Uboat as my new go to.

[Toxiclad]

I'm liking UBoat quite a lot. It does so many things I wished SH5 would but then in other areas I find myself wanting to go back to SH5 Wolves of Steel.


That's what I am struggling with too... I wish I could merge those two games together. But I think a big problem (for us) is that the devs will try to keep the game open to everyone so that people who prefer a more arcade subsim will have their fun without getting to deep into realism and real life procedures.

[GoldenRivet]

In time, i think Uboat is really going to mature into something very special.

I remember back in 2005, when SHIII came out, i was beyond excited. I had just flown home the day before christmas from delivering an airplane to its new owner. My wife picked me up at the airport, reached into a plastic sack and pulled out a copy of SHIII.

SHIII however, in its stock form, was super promising, but it took modders, specifically the GWX team to turn it into a whole other animal.

Uboat is in the same space right now.

what i like about Uboat the most... is that thing that hasnt been conceived of yet.

[Toxiclad]

what i like about Uboat the most... is that thing that hasnt been conceived of yet.

That's a good thought :up: The fact that the game isn't finished and more to come in the future, not like the dev abandoned SH series.

But these are some nice memories you have there, kinda heart warming :Kaleun_Thumbs_Up:

[AVGWarhawk]

The updates and such have let Uboat really flourish. Just simple things like the button for sonar listening while surfaced. Click on the earphones in the map screen and the boat dives to 50 meters, electric motors stopped and sonar listens for 5 minutes for contacts. Then resurfaces. So much easier than clicking several buttons/commands for just a sonar listen. The rain/weather simulation is quite goods as is the water environment. I do enjoy the choice of missions available. Looking forward to other additions, etc.

[Toxiclad]

Yes, the sonar button as you mentioned makes the procedure much more fluid. It makes me feel like an actual captain in command :shucks:

[somedude88]

I'm honestly a little disappointed. I really want to love this game, there are good things about it, but it's a bit too gamey and a little bare bones mechanically and confusing in its realism. Like at 100% realism, distant hydrophone contacts will give you speed and heading, which you can then plug into the computer when you find them and fire with high accuracy from 2 miles away. It has good stuff in it, but yeah... animation is weird, UI is clunky and ugly, some graphical effects like depth charges are weird, AI is just dumb. Missions are a bit buggy and feel like on-rail scripted events.

I know it's still in development, but it feels like it will continue going into a more gamey direction and less in a sim direction. I played over 100 hours of it, but man, there's just stuff about it that feels like it falls short for me.

[Toxiclad]

I'm totaly with you, but let´s see how the game develops and what the modders have for it.

[SnipersHunter]

I'm honestly a little disappointed. I really want to love this game, there are good things about it, but it's a bit too gamey and a little bare bones mechanically and confusing in its realism. Like at 100% realism, distant hydrophone contacts will give you speed and heading, which you can then plug into the computer when you find them and fire with high accuracy from 2 miles away. It has good stuff in it, but yeah... animation is weird, UI is clunky and ugly, some graphical effects like depth charges are weird, AI is just dumb. Missions are a bit buggy and feel like on-rail scripted events.

I know it's still in development, but it feels like it will continue going into a more gamey direction and less in a sim direction. I played over 100 hours of it, but man, there's just stuff about it that feels like it falls short for me.


I 100% agree with you on that

[ReallyDedPoet]

I'm totaly with you, but let´s see how the game develops and what the modders have for it.


:agree:

[Toxiclad]

There is still the dream about a hyper realistic subsim, with the whole world as a map and 100% historical accuracy, developed with unreal engine 5 :k_confused:

[JerseySeven]

Anyone else find that after the recent patches, the merchants spot you way too easily.



Ex. Night, wind at 14 knots, my boat is surfaced heading 225 deg towards funnel smoke. I get just close enough to see on the map it is a single ship but not clearly enough to make a visual even with a helper. Based on my map plots she's heading about 20 deg. I estimate AOB at about 35 starboard.


Next thing I know, before I'm even fully within clear sight range, it makes a 180 and tears off at fast speed.


This has happened at least twice. No way she can see me in those conditions when I can't really see her clearly to even make an ID on the UZO. I think if I went to periscope that soon, I'd lose the intercept.


Maybe I'm just trying to play this like SH3, SH4 and SH5.

[Toxiclad]

Anyone else find that after the recent patches, the merchants spot you way too easily.



Ex. Night, wind at 14 knots, my boat is surfaced heading 225 deg towards funnel smoke. I get just close enough to see on the map it is a single ship but not clearly enough to make a visual even with a helper. Based on my map plots she's heading about 20 deg. I estimate AOB at about 35 starboard.


Next thing I know, before I'm even fully within clear sight range, it makes a 180 and tears off at fast speed.


This has happened at least twice. No way she can see me in those conditions when I can't really see her clearly to even make an ID on the UZO. I think if I went to periscope that soon, I'd lose the intercept.


Maybe I'm just trying to play this like SH3, SH4 and SH5.

Same here, it's like the AI has superpowers. I had a couple of situations where I was at periscope depth in the middle of the night waiting for a convoy to pass by so I could make an identification on some freighters, well I could not even identificate the flag because suddenly the destroyers of the convoy turned to my direction an tried to hunt me down. This happens quite a lot.

[GoldenRivet]

Anyone else find that after the recent patches, the merchants spot you way too easily.



Ex. Night, wind at 14 knots, my boat is surfaced heading 225 deg towards funnel smoke. I get just close enough to see on the map it is a single ship but not clearly enough to make a visual even with a helper. Based on my map plots she's heading about 20 deg. I estimate AOB at about 35 starboard.


Next thing I know, before I'm even fully within clear sight range, it makes a 180 and tears off at fast speed.


This has happened at least twice. No way she can see me in those conditions when I can't really see her clearly to even make an ID on the UZO. I think if I went to periscope that soon, I'd lose the intercept.


Maybe I'm just trying to play this like SH3, SH4 and SH5.

seeing that most of my attacks are on the surface at night from within just a few hundred yards i cannot say i have experienced this. :hmmm:

[Paajtor]

Could this be a case of all-to-visible exhaust smoke, from your sub?
The sim offers ways to reduce that.

[tonschk]

Exactly :up::salute::yeah::up: In time, i think Uboat is really going to mature into something very special.

I remember back in 2005, when SHIII came out, i was beyond excited. I had just flown home the day before christmas from delivering an airplane to its new owner. My wife picked me up at the airport, reached into a plastic sack and pulled out a copy of SHIII.

SHIII however, in its stock form, was super promising, but it took modders, specifically the GWX team to turn it into a whole other animal.

Uboat is in the same space right now.

what i like about Uboat the most... is that thing that hasnt been conceived of yet.

[Oubaas]

I quite like UBoat, and I think that it will eventually develop into a masterpiece. The potential is certainly there, and it seems to be headed in a good direction.

:Kaleun_Salute:

[Kal_Maximus_U669]

I have no doubt about it...
But the problem is that there is a lot to correct already..
We still have to wait a very long time...
you can believe me I'm patient but it's relatively long.. so let's wait and see if the jewels will shine.. :har::har:

[les green01]

lol I'm still trying to get past the tutorials:haha::har: but wonder why g7a are price higher than g7e

[maillemaker]

I only have a couple of hours into it. I have started the tutorial, really. I am not a big fan of 3rd-person sims.

[Sniper450]

You can play in 1st person correct?

[Photofactor]

You can play in 1st person correct?


Yes, you can even force 1st person view only in options.

[Toxiclad]

I only have a couple of hours into it. I have started the tutorial, really. I am not a big fan of 3rd-person sims.

As far as I know you are able to play the whole game in first person mode, which i think is quite a challenge if you want to manage the whole boat.

[Texas Red]

UBOAT is becoming the game I wished SH5 was and all the other SH games could have been. For the first time in my four years of playing SH5, SH4, and SH3; I uninstalled the games to focus on UBOAT.

I'm most likely gonna reinstall SH3 though when the new GWX mod comes out. Looking forward to it!!!!!!!

On the downside, I feel like UBOAT can get a bit repetitive at times. Maybe some more side missions would be better. Perhaps maybe more ways to interact with your crew?


Also, I can't wait to see how the ports will get revamped in further versions.

[Vox165]

I only have a couple of hours into it. I have started the tutorial, really. I am not a big fan of 3rd-person sims.

The nice-feature is the player can choose his play mod style: First-person , third-person, or a combination. I personally like the challenge of first-person

[Schizo]

UBOAT is becoming the game I wished SH5 was and all the other SH games could have been. For the first time in my four years of playing SH5, SH4, and SH3; I uninstalled the games to focus on UBOAT.

Also, I can't wait to see how the ports will get revamped in further versions.

i feel very much the same. i just got back into UBOAT from SH4 and after some time i uninstalled SH4. i will still play SH4 in the future but UBOAT has certainly progressed well over time.

[TheNolan]

I'm liking UBoat quite a lot. It does so many things I wished SH5 would but then in other areas I find myself wanting to go back to SH5 Wolves of Steel.

Like the above post said. The ability to inspect neutral shipping and the mission variety is really cool. I like the interaction with the crew and managing provisioning of the boat. I like that there's more to do on patrols than head to a point, submerge, check hydro then surface and repeat.

In saying that, I find Uboat a bit too easy and somehow less immersive than SH5 Wolves of Steel.

In WoS, I really felt like I was on the Uboat. The world felt much more alive with so many different types of vessels, and despite it being a much older game, I prefer the graphics and sounds of SH5 (although that could be nostalgia). I don't know what it is that WoS has that makes it more immersive for me. Maybe it's just the effort it takes to locate, stalk and target a convoy. The enigma part of WoS is awesome too.

However, as good as WoS is, it relies on ubisoft and ubisoft's stuff is so unreliable. Uboat is just so much more straightforward to run and when I play it I don't constantly worry about getting too close to an AI spawn point and breaking my game or worrying about the campaign not progressing. I miss WoS a lot but I'm resisting the urge to reinstall it and am embracing Uboat as my new go to.


Pretty much exactly how I feel about the game and SH5.


seeing that most of my attacks are on the surface at night from within just a few hundred yards i cannot say i have experienced this. :hmmm:
Very nice, this is how the aces racked up their big tonnages if I understand correctly. On a moonless night move into the convoy on the surface from behind. Once you are within ~ 3 or 4 km your conning tower appears below the horizon from the deck of a transport or destroyer, against the black backdrop of the ocean you are practically invisible. Attack from point blank range inside the convoy, then dive hard and escape. I didn't think Uboat's simulation was this good, will have to give it another try.

[les green01]

far as I'm concerned still piece of crap put 10 days supplied of food on first day out down to 6 days crew much be a bunch of pigs still the first day get a message rough sea crew might get seasick go topsides not all that rough,they better put a barf can around their neck ok ill take it down to 30 meters and grab a two-hour nap just too wake up to a dead chief

[Harmsway!]

The more I play the more I like UBOAT. There is a lot of gameplay hidden beneath the surface. Damage control requires an officer to gather status reports and prioritize repair. Crew management and crew customization is top notch. The graphics, particularly the sea is awesome. Port interactions and supply are well done. And can all be done in first person.

Yet the user interface could be better but isn't terrible. I don't get the attack map. Not sure what to do with it. The regular map is too arcade like. The world map could be a great option if only you could zoom in on it. For those of us who would like to plot ourselves on the map as well as plot our targets would work if we could zoom in. As of now the map tools are rudimentary.

No doubt the future is bright for UBOAT since modding is encouraged. It will continue to get better.

My mods so far.
- Real flags
- Fishing boat
- Attack disc

[Sabatasso]

Well, I bought this game ages ago and while it looks promising I don't really spend much time with it before I reinstall SH3 with GWX or OneAlex to be honest. It's still very under-cooked and bare bones.

Since it is a Unity Engine game, however, which are extremely modular I have no doubt that it will be a solid replacement for Silent Hunter 3 eventually.

[Einzelganger]

It's been a long time for me since SH3 and i've picked up UBOAT from Steam after having come across a video by Wolfpack345. The price was a steal and an easy way to dip my toes into the water again when compared to the daunting task of installing SH3 again and getting back all the mods i had and whatever tweaks i made along the way.


I'm now 55 hours in and i am liking the game more & more while finding out more things to do and how to do them. In a sense i'm growing and learning with my crew and getting this feeling i have to look out for them.


I have a feeling things can only get better with time and with that i have a feeling i could easily burn the same amount of hours on this game as i did on SH3, and now i'm back on here because it seems the best place to find like minded people to talk about the game.



Happy hunting !

[Aktungbby]

Einzelganger!:Kaleun_Salute:...after 11 years 'silent running'!:up:

[Einzelganger]

Einzelganger!:Kaleun_Salute:...after 11 years 'silent running'!:up:


Thank you very much, it feels good taking a u-boat out again :Kaleun_Salute:

[Sabatasso]

I have 3-8 months of diving headfirst into the subsims then 3-4 years of hiatus. The way I have to play these games to enjoy them is insanely time consuming and even re-learning how to do everything manually, and primarily with periscope, takes a good while.

[XonE:32]

I have 3-8 months of diving headfirst into the subsims then 3-4 years of hiatus. The way I have to play these games to enjoy them is insanely time consuming and even re-learning how to do everything manually, and primarily with periscope, takes a good while.
Same. I'm "cyclical" w/my gaming. Looks likes Subs are "back on the menu boys!" for me at the mo anyway. I shelved UBOAT fairly quickly after purchasing a cpl yrs back? I forget. It was shortly after it came out. Way too gamey. It's a lot more interesting now with mods.
Currently prowling the North Sea. I'm not sure if it's the game or Uboat Expanded, but I def get the feel that I'M the one that's being hunted. Ran across a small convoy of 3 mil vessels w/1 tanker. I sank the tanker and buggered off. Within hours there was another group of 3 mils closing to the area. I departed quickly on the surface. It was night, but the moon was out so it was a bit of a risk. Then the next morning.. ALAAAAARM! A flight of 8 ..Hurricanes? If all this is random, it's very good random. It's def not perfect, but it's def getting better IMO. Hope it continues to do so.
https://www.subsim.com/radioroom/picture.php?albumid=1433&pictureid=13206

[StrixBit]

Not sure if the right thread, but "Thoughts about UBOAT" felt like the best of the bunch. Is UBOAT worth getting into, I'm sort of a gopher in regards to that I haven't been able to find "that one game" that really drags me in and I spend endless hours playing it. I had maybe two of those style games back in the day and haven't had the same connection to one in a long time.

So I've been testing the waters of every Subsim game that seem remotely in the realm of realistic/study based in hopes of finding that game, but unfortunately reviews from all over play a major role in selecting these games and I felt the best source would be to actually go to the place where people respect and enjoy what these games truly have to offer and asked their opinions, biased and unbiased. Maybe I'll find one of those games again one day.

[tonschk]

Completely agree :yeah::up:


The more I play the more I like UBOAT.
No doubt the future is bright for UBOAT since modding is encouraged. It will continue to get better.

[ReallyDedPoet]

The more I play the more I like UBOAT. There is a lot of gameplay hidden beneath the surface. Damage control requires an officer to gather status reports and prioritize repair. Crew management and crew customization is top notch. The graphics, particularly the sea is awesome. Port interactions and supply are well done. And can all be done in first person.

Yet the user interface could be better but isn't terrible. I don't get the attack map. Not sure what to do with it. The regular map is too arcade like. The world map could be a great option if only you could zoom in on it. For those of us who would like to plot ourselves on the map as well as plot our targets would work if we could zoom in. As of now the map tools are rudimentary.

No doubt the future is bright for UBOAT since modding is encouraged. It will continue to get better.

My mods so far.
- Real flags
- Fishing boat
- Attack disc


:agree:

[cristic]

...
Yet the user interface could be better but isn't terrible. I don't get the attack map. Not sure what to do with it. The regular map is too arcade like. The world map could be a great option if only you could zoom in on it. For those of us who would like to plot ourselves on the map as well as plot our targets would work if we could zoom in. As of now the map tools are rudimentary.

No doubt the future is bright for UBOAT since modding is encouraged. It will continue to get better.

My mods so far.
- Real flags
- Fishing boat
- Attack disc

You need a lot more mods to play it, try something like this: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1984078352

[Aktungbby]

cristic!:Kaleun_Salute: on the surface after a 6 year 'silent run'!

[ReallyDedPoet]

You need a lot more mods to play it, try something like this: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1984078352


Nice list :yep::up: